Stay on target

Good news for calorie-counting beer drinkers: Starting next month, Bud Light will have prominent nutritional labels on their case boxes and six-packs, becoming the first beer in the U.S. to add a comprehensive on-pack serving facts and ingredient label.

In addition to listing the ingredients, Bud Light packaging will also include serving size, calories, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, carbohydrates, sugars and protein, according to a press release.

Unlike for packaged food, labels aren’t legally required for the beer industry, but as customers demand more transparency, major beer makers agreed in 2016 to voluntarily disclose nutrition facts on their products by 2020.

“When people walk through a store, they are used to seeing ingredient labels on products in every aisle, except for the beer, wine and spirits aisle. As the lead brand in the category, we believe increasing on-pack transparency will benefit the entire beer category and provide our consumers with the information they expect to see,” said VP of Marketing for Bud Light Andy Goeler.

The move by Bud Light comes after Carlsberg, the Danish brewer, took a similar step in 2015, voluntarily listing ingredients and nutrition information on its beer, according to Bloomberg. The brand, however, has limited distribution in the U.S.

The new Bud Light labels will be featured on the beer boxes sold at grocery stores and other locations. They will be big, black-and-white labels, similar to the ones required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on packaged food, the Associated Press reported.

Bud Light lists four ingredients: water, barley, rice and hops. Below that, it shows the calories in a 12-ounce bottle or can and other facts. A 12-ounce serving of Bud Light has 110 calories, 6.6 grams of carbohydrates (2 percent of the recommended daily amount), and 0.9 grams of protein, for example.